Tag Archives | Georgia

Photograph of Charles Darwin by Maull and Polyblank for the Literary and Scientific Portrait Club (1855)

Looks like we should all give the people of Georgia a little bit more credit. Via Raw Story:

Controversial U.S. Congressman Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) could be facing competition in this falls election from an unexpected quarter, a British naturalist who has been dead for 130 years, Charles Darwin, the so-called father of the theory of evolution. According to the Associated Press, University of Georgia scientists and conservative talk-radio host Neil Boortz have found themselves to be unlikely allies in an effort to boost Darwin as a write-in candidate for voters who want to lodge a protest against the ultra-conservative Broun.

James Leebens-Mack, the UGA plant biologist who started a Facebook page supporting Darwin against Broun, told Raw Story in an interview, “Quite a few folks independently came up with the idea to start a write-in campaign, very conservative and very liberal.”

Leebens-Mack said that he’d be happy if write-ins for Darwin would constitute 1 percent of the vote, which he feels would be enough “to let both the Democratic and Republican parties know that we’re not happy that Paul Broun is our only choice in the 10th Congressional District of Georgia.”

The professor, who declined to give his own party affiliation, said that the bipartisan protest arose separately from the campaign organized by Boortz, the Atlanta-based radio host, who has a massive following among Georgia conservatives.

Will ‘inciting corporate-branding cognitive dissonance’ be a crime of the future? Georgia’s Rome News-Tribune reports:

Rome Police were called to the restaurant at 2215 Shorter Ave. at approximately 1 p.m. by a manager in reference to a suspicious person. When they arrived, the manager said that a man dressed as the mascot for Burger King entered the restaurant with bags of hamburgers and began handing them out to several customers.

He danced while inside the restaurant and stopped to take pictures with children. The report states that one child took a picture with him and ran away as he appeared to be scared. The subject then got into a white Acura. The manager saw him take off his mask and he appeared to be a middle age white male with dark hair.

The repressive, racist, red-state culture of the Bible-Belt has been invaded by Burners! Apparently, it’s no longer just a west coast phenomenon. The Burner subculture, along with its unique form of totally participatory, commerce-free weekend camping festivals, can now be found even in the darkest corners of the former Confederacy. Within half a decade, events like Transformus, Alchemy, and Euphoria (held this past weekend near Dalton, GA) have brought the culture and philosophy of Burning Man to the part of the country where, arguably, it is most needed. And the people down here really seem to enjoy it!

Hell, I’m a thirty-year-old veteran Disinfonaut, and I still enjoyed it. At least when I was smart enough to get my tickets early … Two out of three of these festivals, all official Burning Man Regional events, each sold out within hours. My friends and I were so bummed out that we couldn’t go, that we decide to throw a couple of Burn events on our own. … Read the rest

One wonders if the political views she expressed on her Facebook page was also a factor: “I despise all law enforcement and any governing authority,” she states in her profile. “I am not one for selective targeting but mass destruction.” Reports Alexis Stevens in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

It will be an explosive-free weekend for the northeast Georgia college student who admitted to federal agents that she likes to blow things up as a hobby. She’s being held without bond after a hearing was canceled Friday.

Celia Alchemy Savage’s father says his daughter shouldn’t be in jail and the government should butt out.

“She likes to hunt and fish,” Tommy Savage told Channel 2 Action News. “She loves shooting. She goes sky diving. All kinds of stuff like that that you wouldn’t really typically think of a young lady doing.”

But a search of her home Wednesday led to federal charges for 23-year-old Celia Savage of Cornelia.

From one system of ridgidly-imposed discipline and control to another ... Russia Today reports:

Authorities in Muscogee County, Georgia say they’ve found a great way to let veterans of US wars share their experience with one another. It’ll just happen behind steel bars and under lock and key.
Officials from the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office recently held a press conference to discuss once of the department’s newest endeavors and they believe that it is the first of its kind in the country. Tucked in a corner of the county jail in rural Georgia is a dormitory specifically reserved to house inmates that have fought for America.
There ought to be a place in our city that provides a facility where veterans can stay for a period of time while being treated, physically and mentally," Ret. Col. Roy Plummer said, reports the local Ledger-Enquirer...

A new Senate Bill in Georgia is leading the charge in punishing peaceful protest. Senate Bill 469 amends laws relating to labor organizations and relations to “provide that certain provisions prohibiting mass picketing shall apply to certain private residences…provide for an action to enjoin unlawful mass picketing…and provide for both criminal trespass and criminal conspiracy” with punishment and fines (h/t Sarah Jaffe at Alternet).

The bill makes it unlawful for persons to engage in picketing where “a labor dispute exists” in numbers that would block any kind of transportation or entrances to buildings or interrupt “quiet enjoyment.” In addition, planning such a direct action or protest would also become a crime – “conspiracy to commit criminal trespass.” In other words, a protest action such as a march or occupation of a building or protest around a private residence will be an arrestable offense, as well as planning such an action.… Read the rest

Not all ancient monuments are mysterious and not all mysterious monuments are ancient.

The Georgia Guidestones are decidedly not ancient—until 1980 there was nothing on top of that bare hill outside of Elberton, Georgia—yet there is much that is extremely mysterious about them.

Raymond Wiley and KT Prime do a first-class job in this little book of telling what is known about the stones, and what is not, revealing and exploring their mysteries one by one. They always keeps their feet on the ground and avoid extravagant or fanciful explanations when a simpler one will do. This only makes it all the more mysterious, after the ground has been so thoroughly raked over, that we still to this day do not know the true identity of the man calling himself R.… Read the rest

The Georgia Guidestones are a collection of standing stones near Elberton, Georgia. Built in 1980, they are primarily composed of six slabs of granite: one central pillar, four “major” stones that fan out from the center, and a capstone. The capstone has engravings on all four of its sides in four different ancient languages, all of which read, “Let these be guidestones to an Age of Reason,” when translated. The major stones are each engraved on both sides, and each side contains text in one of eight modern languages asserting ten guidelines.

Georgian authorities detained a scrap-metal hunter for cutting a main Internet cable near Tbilisi, the Interior Ministry said. The break in the cable left tens of thousands of residents and businesses without Internet access in Georgia and all of Armenia on March 28, the ministry said.

A 75-year-old woman was arrested on evidence given by several witnesses and was “temporarily released due to her old age,” ministry spokesman Zurab Gvenetadze said today in a phone interview in Tblisi. She will be questioned again and may face charges, Gvenetadze said.

The incident cut Armenia’s Internet access for more than 12 hours, Gvenetadze said. An unidentified spokeswoman for Caucasus Online, one of the largest Georgina Internet service providers, said customers lost access to the World Wide Web for almost five hours.

Georgian Railway Telecom LLC spokesman Giorgi Ionatamishvili said the cable belonged to the company and customers suffered “massive and catastrophic” damage.